I can’t say I ever would have expected to hear that Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson would direct a live-action/hybrid reimagining of The Aristocats for Disney, but here we are. Deadline reports that Questlove will be getting behind the camera for The Aristocats, which was first revealed more than a year ago.
The original 1970 movie revolved around a family of Parisian felines who discover that they’re set to inherit a fortune from their owner. But when a jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country, they must find their way back home with the help of a smooth-talking tomcat. Will Gluck (Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway) and Keith Bunin (Onward) are set to pen the script for the live-action adaptation of The Aristocats, with Gluck also producing through his Olive Bridge Entertainment banner. In addition to directing The Aristocats, Questlove will also executive produce the project as well as oversee the music.
Questlove is the drummer and co-frontman for The Roots, which serves as the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He’s also a recent Oscar winner, snagging Best Documentary Feature for Summer of Soul. The doc revolves around the 1969 Harlem Cultural festival.
Disney has been pumping out live-action adaptations of their movies pretty regularly. We’ve had The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, and a handful of others. The studio has even more live-action adaptations of their animated classics on the way, including The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, Hercules, and even Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which has Rachel Zegler (Shazam: Fury of the Gods) playing Snow White and Gal Gadot (Red Notice) playing the Evil Queen.
The next live-action Disney movie based on their animated classics will be David Lowery’s Peter Pan & Wendy, which will debut on Disney+ on April 28th. Following that will be Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid, which stars Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid alongside Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, and Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle. The Little Mermaid will hit theaters on May 26th.